Shinigami's Fire Child
by TiredSymphony
Summary: The sacred, deadly scroll placed in the small hands of a frail child, already shattered by harsh reality. Would this truly be what would save them all? In which includes the exasperation of Fugaku, and the grumblings of senseis. Late updates to be expected, apologies.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine, I do not own Naruto.

**_First_ A/N: This is my first fanfiction, please be nice to me. It is a bit scary and nerve wracking since there is a chance of getting harsh or rude comments but it's exciting as well.**

_**Second A/N: *Actually my story has been deleted by my idiotic friend and I didn't know until weeks later so unfortunately I couldn't recover it. but I'm keeping the chapter same except for the second A/N. **_

_**Sorry to all the people who had reviewed, favorited or followed my story,I apologise from the deepest pits (armpits?) of my heart. I really mean it, except for the armpit, it just randomly came to me.***_

XD :) This is inspired by 'Summoner Nin' by the point.

Have fun reading.

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><p><strong><span>Shinigami's Fire Child<span>**

**Chapter One: To Begin of the Beginning**

Hinata stood nervously outside the door of the mother's medical room.

The silence made it worse.

She felt a chill, although there were no open windows and no open doors, perhaps it was the cold glares of the nurses whenever they passed her. After all, why wouldn't the Branch members curse the Main House members for their imprisonment? They would always curse the jailors, no matter how young or old they were.

The young Hyuga poked her index fingers together, hesitantly trying to peek through the gap of the door.

She knew it wasn't normal for it to be silent, she wished for screams and shrieks and wails to come flying from the room, and she meant no harm, she wished only it for the best.

This was her mother in labour.

And the 5 year old had secretly snuck out of her bed many times to ask the slightly kinder branch members about it. Although they were cold to her, at least they answered her questions, and that was how her knowledge of labour came to be.

She wished it was true that storks or sparrows, whichever one of the lot, gave people a baby but she knew that reality was harsh, and it meant there was another life inside her mother's stomach. It felt alien to her and she told her father about it, Hiashi Hyuga simply told her to leave it be and concentrate on mastering the Hyuga techniques.

And so... for the early months of her mother's pregnancy she clinged onto herself for support, totally unprepared for this new arrival and then she thought even more... would the new baby replace her?

Until later on in the year, her mother confronted her and gently comforted her, she showed Hinata her usual love and the young Hyuga beamed with happiness. It was subtle but enveloping and it was the essence of the Hyuga's way of love. Of course her mother adapted the version slightly. ;)

She played with her and talked to her, even asking her what to name the baby, in which Hinata grew to love her beloved mother and her unborn baby sister even more.

So when the time finally came for her mother to give birth, she decided she would wait patiently and smile at both her mother and sister when she was allowed to see them.

She waited there and slept on the floor, her head leaning on the door. It didn't matter if Hyugas weren't supposed to do that or if she was an heiress.

She would stoop low, because after all, it was for her mother.

* * *

><p>When Hinata woke up, she felt an uncomfortable aching in her neck. What troubled her was that she felt a warm liquid on her face which she could tell was starting to dry.<p>

It was spit.

The young heiress felt her spirit buckle under the pressure of the shame and sadness in her heart.

She couldn't quite place the words, after all the little one knew she would be hated by many Branch members of her clan but it shocked her that they would do such a shameful thing. She couldn't express her feelings, she was only 5.

The screams and shrieks took her back to reality, it was her mother's.

And although she had wished for it before, the pained screams made Hinata regret making her wish, she only wished that so her mother would be safe.

But now it sounded anything but safe.

* * *

><p>Hours after she woke up, Hinata decided to find a hiding spot to hide in and she finally spotted the Hyuga nurses coming out, one by one, from her small corner.<p>

"Finally!" one nurse said with exasperation.

"I know I was thinking that we would be there for another day. Curse Lady Hyuga's damn child, delaying us so much. I have children to take care of too." Another said with hidden anger

"At least, we have a break now."

"Better spend it well before Hiashi-sama comes raging in to complain about that Lady Hyuga again."

"However long it her child took, be thankful that we have Lady Hyuga's kindness to shield us from Hiashi-sama." One of them said, with gratitude in her voice.

And the others all agreed with a faint smile for their kind mistress before scampering off to enjoy their break, and to which Hinata knew it was time for her to slip into the medical room. There she saw her mother breathing heavily, with her eyes closed and a small bundle in her arm.

"O-Okaa-san?" she breathed quietly.

Her mother slowly turned towards her and smiled at her arrival and tenderly gestured for her to come to her.

"Oh… Hinata what are you doing here?"

"I-I waited f-for you okaa-san," she beamed.

"A-and t-the baby." She added after a second thought, in which her mother laughed weakly to.

"Have you decided what to call your sister, my sunshine?" she murmured softly.

"H-Hanabi."

"Oh?" her mother raised her eyebrow with a soft smile, "Why is…that?"

"Because the f-fireworks are so b-bright and I hope she turns very s-shiny and bright and everyone loves t-the fireworks…u-umm…" she struggled to come up with more reasons.

That's when her mother suddenly gasped and started breathing heavily, almost panting.

"O-Okaa-san?" Hinata asked nervously

"H-Hinata…" she tried to speak, breathing much more heavily as she did.

"O-Okaa-san, s-shall I call t-the n-nurse? I-I am s-scared f-for you, o-okaa-san…" Hinata spoke faster, babbling as she went.

Her mother raised a hand and gently calmed her down, smiling at her with complete confidence and reassurance.

"H-Hinata this has h-happened to me… before… when you w-were… born, but this…" she paused, panting, "t-this time… I'm sure I won't make it. I w-would… rather s-spend it with you…"

"My d-daughter… y-you have... to do something f-for me… d-do it for me…" and then she continued without letting her daughter respond.

"Take o-out the second t-tile on t-the wall… y-yes t-that one…take it out."

Hinata was shocked to see a huge roll of paper inside the wall but did as her mother instructed. She soon found out that the huge roll of paper which towered over her small height was called a scroll.

"I w-want… y-you t-to learn it…Hinata… I-I beg y-you my d-daughter….l-learn it."

"H-Hai…" the young Hyuga replied, sounding slightly scared.

"Promise…m-me y-you will take c-care… of Hanabi. Take care of y-your father… the w-whole clan." She breathed slowly, steading her words.

"Hug me once Hinata." Her mother said with desperation.

"Okaa-san!" she hugged her mother, uncertain of what was happening, she just knew that she needed to hug her mother who looked ill. She was totally unaware that these may be her mother's last words.

She was hugged back by her mother and a pair of tiny hands.

"L-Let no o-one see the s-scroll, not… even your f-father. Only the H-Hokage and that's if he finds o-out or else don't."

Her mother let go and said.

"Run… Hinata a-and hide it. My daughter r-run…"

She ran, and then she figure rightly so, because if she hadn't then the Hyuga nurses would have caught her. She heard them scream 'Lady Hyuga!' when she was in the end of the corridor and ran away, hiding the scroll in a safe place when she got back to her bedroom.

By the time she got back to the room and peeked through the gap of the door before scurrying back to her room as a Hyuga nurse spotted her and glared at her, somehow willing for daggers to come out of her eyes and stab the poor child.

Hinata scurried back very quickly to avoid the nurse's scurried away so quickly that she nearly knocked over an old Hyuga maid, and didn't take a second glance. She scurried away so quickly that she was completely out of breath when she reached her room.

In fact, Hinata scurried away so quickly she missed the final words of her mother.

"Hanabi is a nice name, ne, Hiashi?"

* * *

><p>Hours later after the group of nurses had left, Hiashi stared blankly at his unresponding wife; his beautiful, gentle wife, the other half of his soul… gone.<p>

"Come back." He commanded her.

Nothing.

He tried so many times, it didn't work. Then grief took him, and cradled with his heart.

"Come now, get up, my dearest."

"Come back, I beg you." He tried again, "Come now, my sweet wife, we'll watch our children grow and look at the fireworks together."

She lay still.

A tear dropped down from his eye to her cheek, their teardrop streamed together, connected by their undying love.

"I love you…" he croaked, his heart wrenching under his chest.

"How will I live without you?" he questioned with maddened grief.

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><p>In the night, Hanabi's wails echoed throughout the Hyuga Compound, protected her father, masking Hiashi's weeping and saving his dignity as the clan head.<p>

* * *

><p>The Hokage was shocked to hear that the Hyuga clan was hosting a funeral, and for Hiashi's wife.<p>

If only Minato was here… then he could have retired and had the time to relax and finally forget about the stress of the whole village in his hands… but then that's just how things turned out to be, he thought sadly.

And of course, he was shattered when he found out he had to cut off on Icha Icha Paradise reading time because of this funeral, but he was came to pay respects to the whole Hyuga clan.

Hiashi Hyuga's wife was a kind woman who welcomed him warmly and offered him her tea and dumplings whenever he came.

The Hokage noted there were important guests from all around the Shinobi nations, all the kages and their powerful supporters, maybe even their ANBU-levelled apprentices. Everyone had come, and they should. Only foolish ones would dare deny the request of the clan rumoured to be one of the four most powerful dojutsu clans, it would be like playing with fire and in the end they would all be burned.

The Hyuga clan were solely loyal to Konoha, but he was sure the Hyuga clan liked a leader who would attend to their requests rather than a leader who disregarded them. If he was that kind of leader, he would have been slapped by his forefathers and also he was sure that the Hyuga clan wouldn't be too pleased about that.

He suddenly saw the eldest child of Hiashi's and pitied her, he knew Hiashi was strict and without her mother's soft touch who knows how this child will be turn up in the future? He was certain she would suffer.

Soon after the burial ceremony had finished, it started raining heavily which resulted to everyone shuffling back to the Hyuga Compound for some shelter and protection from the pelting rain.

The Hokage saw something outside from the window and he instantly went out to investigate, since he had a sinking suspicion about what or who might be out in the rain.

His suspicion was correct.

The 5 year old daughter of the clan head, stood there, mournfully staring at the grave of her mother.

"O-Okaa-san…"

"Y-You never told m-me… that y-you were going t-to… die…" she whispered, "You j-just said y-you wanted to s-spend some t-time with me. If I k-knew… this w-was going t-to h-happen then I w-would have told t-the n-nurses right away."

"C-come back okaa-san."

"I promise I'll look a-after Hanabi and o-otou-san r-really well, s-so you can c-come b-back now." she sniffed

"C-come back **n-now**!" she cried, stomping her feet on the ground. It was almost like a temper tantrum, the hokage sighed sadly as he saw the scene, the child was only five but yet the hesitant way she stomped already told him that this was her first time experience for her.

He was sure it may be the first and last time for her as Hiashi would practically kill her if she didn't conduct herself as a proper 'Hyuga' and to her status; the heiress.

He leaned in, barely managing to hear her. The rain was pouring down even more heavily, drenching both the Sandaime and the small mournful Hyuga heiress.

"E-Everyone needs y-you. I n-need you. I m-made a p-promise to you to protect Hanabi, but h-how will I d-do t-that?"

She bowed down to her mother's grave, her face touching the ground her mother was buried in then she wiped her tears.

"O-Okaa-san, y-you told m-me to a-always h-have the Will of Fire." she smiled sadly, "so I'll do my best."

The Hokage looked with astonishment, was she truly 5?

She spoke like someone more mature and of a bigger age, and the thing he admired most, she spoke with so much resolve.

Hinata, the heiress of the cold and arrogant Hyugas, spoke with so much kindness and hidden Will of Fire while being drenched in the down pour of rain. He mused, the little Hyuga truly was something.

* * *

><p>"Hello," he smiled kindly.<p>

"H-Hello." She squeaked back before her eyes widened. She hurried into a clumsy bow as she realised that he was the Third Hokage of the village, the village leader.

"H-Hokage-sama, f-forgive m-me f-for being v-very v-very berry rude." Realising her mistake, she scrambled to put her hands on her mouth embarrassedly.

"Very, n-not b-berry H-Hokage-sama."

The Hokage laughed at the stumbling Hyuga, just like a kindly old man who found something funny should.

"Don't worry, it's quite funny actually. Hinata-chan is it?"

"H-Hai." She whispered, her fringe dripping with droplets of rain.

"Wait a second, Hinata-chan." The Hokage put a hand up and fiddled with his cloak.

He suddenly pulled out a pick frilly umbrella, quite large actually, with prints of humorous little monkeys dancing about. Then covered their heads over to protect them from the rain.

"So Hinata-chan…"

"H-Hai h-hokage-sama?"

He frowned and shook his head at Hinata before telling her the reason why.

"Hokage-sama makes me seem so old." He droned with childish annoyance.

"Call me Jii-chan!" he flashed a very shiny smile.

Hinata was confused with that twisted logic, and her young 5 year old mind was working hard to figure out why the hokage said such weird things. It was mind boggling, but she agreed to it simply.

"O-Okay… J-Jii-chan."

The Hokage beamed with happiness and flashed another shiny, almost eye-blinding, white toothed smile. Hinata thought sluggishly, that surely only angels were capable of such white teeth and that eye watering smile.

She looked back at the Hokage once her eyes stopped twitching and watering.

~ The Hokage looked victorious, he sure was glad that Might Gai gave him some tips on how to brighten his day (teeth), and boy it sure worked a treat! ~

Hinata prepared herself as the hokage suddenly looked very victorious and totally aiming to converse with her.

She gulped as took one final glance at the unusual umbrella and smiled nervously.

Then they talked a little more, Hinata was opening up and she wasn't stuttering as much. The Sandaime was really friendly and let her pull his beard.

"J-Jii-chan, I'm not sure h-how to t-take care o-of the clan…" she sighed

"A-Am I supposed to b-be 'Hyuga' just like f-father said?"

The hokage felt sad to see the young Hyuga troubled by such a thing no young child should face. He felt deeply sorry for her.

"Never Hinata-chan." he wanted to guide the young Hyuga, "You must never be like the Hyuga, and I can see kindness is in your heart. Will you really be cold or arrogant? No, never… your mother would have never wanted that for you..."

"Okaa-san…" she whispered to herself, her eyes open. Realising what the hokage said was true, after all her mother always told her to be Hyuga was not always best.

Her mother always told the young Hyuga hopes for her, how she wanted Hinata to be happy and not be so Hyuga-like.

"Thanks J-Jii-chan."

Smiles and sweets were shared.

Hinata received a strawberry flavour lollipop and was happy and relieved to hear those words, those words that lit up her whole spirit and filled it with hope.

She hoped she would stay strong and hopeful.

Also, she smiled.

She was pretty sure she had got herself a very nice, kind grandpa.

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><p><strong>Constructive criticism allowed.<strong>

**A/N: This is a fanfiction that I hope will be quite long or at least medium sized. I hope you will all be sweet to this amateur writer. **

**Tired Symphony. **


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

_*I have decided to revamp this chapter into something a little more improved compared to my old chapter 2.*_

Introducing the: **Love Garden **and the **IMPO**!

**Love Garden (for the lovelies who reviewed for the first chapter):**

Romantic-Me-Girl (anonymous)

**Important people/IMPO (who favorited and followed):**

Brittany6391 (you found me! From Hidden Messiah to here… *grateful applause*)

MJandSports (welcome to the story, my friend XD)

alee26606 (I like Madara x Hinata as well! *Stalked you on your profile page*)

silent crescendo (we've met before in my old story haven't we? o.O? *applause as well*) ;)

cassert (What's your blood type?) *You don't have to answer it, I don't want to stalk you! :'( …not yet… ;)*

_**You can still review for the first chapter, I tend to have special surveillances in the Love Garden and IMPO section… so don't worry! Your name could still be in the Love Garden!**_

I'm really really so sorry I updated really late so this chappy (chapter) is going to be quite long for you lovelies!

~ Thank you all for your support and encouragement! ~ ^.^

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><p><span>Shinigami's Fire Child:<span>

Chapter Two: The Byakugan Misery

The little 5 year old looked across to Hanabi who was lying down in her white cosy cot, fast asleep. She watched with fascination as she watched Hanabi breathe, it was interesting since Hinata noted breathed much slower than this and she couldn't breathe that fast for very long. Even if she wanted to.

While Hinata looked at Hanabi, Hiashi looked at his daughter with an unwavering stare which Hinata uncomfortably realised to after a couple of minutes.

She clumsily tried to get out while ignoring her father who was surely going to tell her off for wasting her spare time doing nothing.

"W-Would y-you l-like s-some t-tea, o-otou-san?" she whispered nervously

He reluctantly agreed and then waved a hand to dismiss her. She stumbled out.

Hiashi watched as she went out and sighed, with confusion and sadness. He wasn't jealous but he wished he could have gotten over his wife's death as easily as his daughter had.

She smiled, even more right now, now her mother was dead, and she wanted to do many things her mother used to do. She even offered to help look after baby Hanabi and although he would never let her he would wonder how she could disregard her mother's death.

She was shy and kind but prehaps more like him than he realised. How quickly she disregarded her mother's death, and what shame and shock he felt.

This was too Hyuga-like on such a subject that touched even his cold heart, so how could his shy kind daughter be so heartless?

Hiashi wanted to applaud her for being so Hyuga-like and so unfeeling to her own mother's death.

Perhaps the faint fatherly love of his, for Hinata finally faded that day, he was no longer concerned about her or wanted to include her in anything he did at all. He turned cold to her after that day, thinking that since she didn't care about her mother's death why should he care for her?

… And on that that he lost the love that his wife would have desperately wanted for their eldest daughter… had she been alive.

From that day, although he would not have known of it, he let his wife down immensely.

From that day, Hinata's childhood days took a bleak and damaged turn for the worse with her cold father.

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><p>The weeks passed, and Hiashi's interactions with his eldest daughter becoming more rigid, and each time during the Hokage's visits to the Hyuga Compound for meetings, the Hokage could see that increase even more.<p>

So clearly, he was shocked. Then he made a plan to get Hinata to spend as little time with her father, rather than join them together. Although it seemed cruel and heartless to do such a thing, he knew it was the best option for the young Hyuga as he had many years of experience on this tricky Hyuga field.

He had seen the result of trying to mend their relationship, individuals such as Hiashi would feel shamed if an outsider knew of such things and get even angrier, and eventually their relationship would break.

He had seen the result of a similar thing that nearly happened to Hiashi and Hizashi, and even now after all those years their relationship was never the same; it was stiff and cold to whatever brotherly bond they had in the past. It was restrained, for Hiashi to restrain his coldness and smugness of the Main House and for Hizashi to restrain his furious complaints about the treatment of the Branch.

They restrained themselves from ever getting closer, after all the Hyuga were proud. They would rather break then bend. Especially Hiashi.

However he still had to think through his plan, he wanted a subtle way to get her out so even Hiashi would be less suspicious. He would hate to fail, and deprive a memorable childhood for someone he was so fond of. She was like his favourite and only grandchild who was never going to be his but he loved her to bits anyway.

He would think through it carefully and then make a move. Hinata Hyuga will be able to have a childhood with fun memories, I swear as the Third Hokage of Konoha, he thought determinedly.

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><p>"I am…" "Awfully grateful…" "This opportunity… the cloud…" "Ambassador…great alliance" "Hyuga is a great clan." that was all the young Hyuga heard through the slight gap of meeting room door.<p>

She thought she was doing quite well considering she was quite far away and that there were guards standing next to the door. However she knew that the guards could already see her, they just let her stay there thinking that she was patiently (and stupidly) waiting for her father, she was just happy that they underestimated her ability to catch those lingering words. After all, who wouldn't underestimate a weak 5-year old who was tiny and stuttered out every word like she had some sort of severe medical condition?

Everyone would. Especially the Hyuga, her own family who were cold and unfeeling, proud and confident and hated the weak and feeble.

She heard the guards remark about how thirsty they were and she immediately zoomed away to fetch them some tea. Maybe some part of her wanted at least a bit of recognition, a little bit of gratitude and respect that she tried her best to serve up to the Branch Members' needs.

The kitchen staff were still getting used to her recent visits to the kitchen, and as they were branch they looked incredulous as she stepped in, given that they were branch and she was the heiress. However worthless a Main House heiress could be, they were still expected to stay in 'noble' places, and a kitchen wasn't one of them.

They weren't very pleased when she asked for two cups of tea and added a please to it. They hated how she was so free and how she was ever so close to commanding them, they were afraid that despite her reputation as being weak she could still turn out to be smug and pampered bossing everyone about as she goes.

And the ones not afraid of how she might turn out, gave her severe looks of disgust and disrespect, and showed the young Hyuga heiress their disdain quite clearly.

There had been times when Hinata was discouraged by it, but she just thought it was what her beloved okaa-san would have told her to do anyway and would have been proud of her for doing so.

She was determined to be in the guards' good side, she was determined to earn their respect and gratitude, even if it was just a little bit of it.

When she returned she received quite a big shock as she saw the guards sipping tea while smiling at a small little Branch girl who seemed the same age as her, she was holding a tray… she had served them tea.

She saw them ruffle her hair fondly before she skipped away happily.

Hinata stared at the sight sadly, would it have been her if she had gotten them some tea before? Would they have smiled at her with grateful and fond eyes like that?

_No. They wouldn't have._

They wouldn't have, it was the covered mark on the little girl's forehead that had allowed it to happen, they would have treated her with the same cold disdain and hissed a bitter 'thank you' while saying Hinata-_**sama**_, they would have empathised 'sama' with so much hatred.

Nothing would have changed at all, she thought bitterly.

But then she stopped, she held back her thoughts and sucked in the sharp air_, I shouldn't have these thoughts, I should try again_, she thought.

She pondered for a while, then her face glowed with realisation.

_It doesn't matter if I didn't reach the guards, the tea is still warm and there are still more people left. I should try again!_

And so when the meeting room door swung open, she made a hasty dash for it over to her father and the person next to him, and stood right in front of them with the tea in a blue detailed-painted 'Phoenix' tray.

Her father dripped with scorn and contempt as he saw what she, the heiress of the clan, was doing. Serving tea? Doing a Branch member's job? He thanked Kami for giving Hanabi to him and vowed to make his younger daughter a much stronger and dignified Hyuga than his weak eldest daughter.

The man besides him, took the tea cup uneasily. He was confused, at what the young Hyuga was doing but did not want to invoke any sign of disrespect so he took the cup.

He had heard rumours of the weak Hyuga-heiress and had a personal taste of how weak and low she would stoop to, doing a servant's job. He raised an eyebrow to the Hyuga head, before snapping his head back, he didn't want to show too much disrespect.

Although Hiashi looked calm and composed, he was seething with rage inside, because of that infuriating brat the Hyuga clan had indefinitely been shamed by some extend, especially the Main House.

Hiashi regained his inner calmness and resumed with his frightening calm and coldness.

"Hinata, this is Kumogakure's Ambassador, and here is Hinata, my eldest." Hiashi spoke formally and with no fondness for his daughter at all.

"I see." He relied gruffly, he was a big burly man and seemed scary but she saw her father right next to him and thanked Kami that he was not like her father. She saw that he had black eyes with lines underneath them, how silly! And to her uttermost delight he had a beard, she smiled at him.

The Kumogakure Ambassador returned her a smile quickly, too quickly, and it had been looked like it was filled with smug satisfaction and a predator's hungry gleam.

She quickly retracted back her smile and scurried away after the two men had finished drinking their tea.

She felt unsettled.

However she shook that feeling off, it was best to disregard it and leave it as a dying bud rather than to let it sprout into something more. She could not confide in her cold father, their distance increasing day by day, and she had felt lonely since her mother's warmth seemed long gone from the world, although it had just been just four months since her mother's death.

She hated the fact that she felt so shattered about her mother's death, yet the warm presence of her mother was fading so quickly. She hated herself for getting so used to life.

She wished she could have behaved sad or lonely like a normal girl, especially a stuttering shy girl who clung onto their mother like her, but she didn't. Couldn't. Except for that devastatingly painful pang in her heart, she couldn't show any remorse or change in her behaviour at all, she just kept smiling.

She wanted to ask the Hyuga medic at the herbal room if there was something wrong with her but the medic was branch and would probably retort something nasty once she had gone out. After all, she was the clan head's daughter, they weren't allowed to disrespect her so easily… but even so that didn't shield her from the furious lashes of hatred from the branch.

_Okaa-san, please help me._

All Hinata could do now was ask her mother for help. Whether or not she existed anymore.

Tonight would be a cold night. A cold, dark night in which she could tell that something was going to occur today because after all…

She felt unsettled.

* * *

><p>Just before night, she went to the Branch Compound where the servants and the Branch members of the Hyuga clan had their rooms.<p>

She went to visit her cousin, her father's brother's son, and someone very close to her, both by blood and by heart. Her dearest cousin Neji.

She would be filled with great happiness whenever she heard his name. He was the only Branch Hyuga member to treat her normally, without any restrained formalities or hatred.

He was her ray of hope in the darkest days involving the Branch members. His father, her uncle, scared her sometimes as he would look enviously at her then Neji and suddenly the room would grow cold and he would look angry.

Once her father saw him do that, and punished uncle Hizashi right on the spot.

She remembered chunks of their conversations, 'How lucky…. Branch members…' 'Never receive privilege…'

She remembered how Neji looked so shocked, how she felt so shocked, by the intense pain that Hizashi-uncle seemed to be in, desperately clutching his head as if that will ease the pain.

She wondered if Neji would be like that as well, and shivered at the thought of it. She was, however, interrupted in her train of thoughts when she heard her name being called out with great excitement.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji yelled with happiness.

He came like Tarzan towards her and hugged her tightly, causing both of them to fall down to the ground with a soft thud. They both smiled at each other, giggling and laughing at what had just happened.

"N-Neji-nii-san." She said as fondly as a five year could, before pouting at him, "I m-missed y-you so much!"

He patted her head.

"No need to worry now, Hinata-sama! I'm always going to protect you and love you like a nii-san and a mother mixed together!"

"Mothers are always very clingy." He added after a second thought.

Hizashi laughed at this, not sure his wife would be too pleased about her son's remark. Hinata blinked at her uncle surprise written all over her face, but then broke into a small shy smile directed right at him and his happiness.

When he returned it back, she glowed with happiness.

It was almost too cruel to watch her get so happy about such a simple thing like a smile.

It was obvious she hadn't received much happiness that most children should have, and since it was his first time cracking her a smile as well, he felt very guilty. Hiashi certainly wouldn't have showered her with smiles and praises.

Then he thought about his son, who loved his Main House cousin, his brother's daughter so much. Neji had already received the Caged Bird seal already, marking his son for life, caging his son for life.

When he had received it, the connections between him and his older brother, Hiashi, were lost. Their eyes never shone with the same brotherly affection for each other as they had did back then, he had turned bitter and Hiashi had turned cold and arrogant. He was resentful and spiteful about the unfairness of why he was sealed, he was just a few seconds younger than his twin but yet he got away without the seal and got to be the heir, and Hiashi was cold and unfeeling to him as he now thought that Hizashi was inferior and unworthy to talk to him. It was still like that up to now so he had clearly been confused by his son's actions.

Neji had been branded with the seal that would ruin his life, just like it ruined his father's, and had witnessed what a Main House member could do to a Branch member when he saw his father being punished by the clan head but yet he showered Hinata with the same love and protection.

He was very, very confused but then he smiled gently.

Perhaps the times were changing with the generation…

Perhaps the union of Branch and Main House could be possible without the hatred…

Perhaps Neji's future could be… brighter…

* * *

><p>Night fell, and the silence was broken every four seconds later by the distant chirping of the crickets. Hinata looked outside of her window and tried to count the stars in the sky, unfortunately the night sky was pitch black and the stars had been hidden away by a veil of fog.<p>

And so, disappointed, she plopped down to her soft bed with more than hundreds of seams fitted expertly. It felt severely impersonal.

She tried her level best to sleep, but after the numerous twists and turns she jolted up, the duvet wrapped around her left foot like a desperate clingy snake.

She stared at the ceiling before jumping at the sudden tapping from her window.

"Hinata."

That voice, she was jolted with recognition

"Hinata."

It can't be.

"Hinata."

_**Okaa-san?**_

She was scared, she heard her dead mother's voice well it didn't exactly sound like her mother but the gentle melodic hints came through to her, however she was still scared.

She didn't like the way the voice was calling to her, clinging onto her name like a malevolent snake and the way it droned on so robotically.

How could such different sounds get her confused? But she didn't know the answer, the child was merely five, and at such a tender young age it was impossible for them to realise.

The taps on her bedroom window got more frantic by the minute and the voice began to drone more.

"Hinata."

"Hinata!"

"HINATA!"

Hinata couldn't take it anymore, this was her okaa-san, her** mother**, who was calling her and no matter how she got on without her didn't matter. She just had to see her one more time, to feel her warm embrace once more.

She ran to her large window and opened it. A large, rough hand grabbed her by the neck and dragged her away from her room.

She didn't scream. They reached the outside training grounds of the Hyuga Compound.

(For all you dear fellow readers, you may think that she is retarded if she didn't scream but remember, he had his hands around her freakin' neck! And don't ask me how she didn't die from suffocation, in the world of fanfiction, everything is possible. I once read a disturbing story about Hinata's butt getting stuck to Naruto or_**some other area**_ and farting on him for the rest of her life, happy that Sakura wouldn't get him. {O.O} Yes, I was horrified. Well it all comes back and slaps me in the face after I proceeded to read it despite its blurb. **Stupid me**.)

She felt annoyed that the night was so dark, she could see her kidnapper's face and she felt numb that she didn't have Byakugan, her father had insulted her many times about her failure to activate it properly and unlock the potential and stop the disgrace of the Main House.

She wished she had the Byakugan. She wished for it desperately, she wished she had the-

Byakugan?

She could see! Her vision had increased in power and although it was a disappointing grey colour, she was overjoyed. So overjoyed she nearly cried with happiness, so over joyed that she didn't notice one bit that she fell out of her captor's arms and lost consciousness due to so much chakra being extracted from activating and unlocking the Byakugan.

The last thing she heard before she blacked out completely was the sound of something sharp piercing an object, some sort of liquid splattering on the ground, and blood curling scream that echoed throughout the whole of the Hyuga Compound.

Perhaps that was the sign of the bad omen and the events that were about to occur.

* * *

><p>"YOU MURDERER!"<p>

Hinata opened her eyes.

She was shocked to see Neji, her beloved and precious cousin, towering over her with a kunai in his hands, ready to plunge it into her sleeping form. He looked at her with angry vicious eyes.

He raised the kunai in his hands and plunged it down- Hiashi's firm strong hands stopped the young maddened Hyuga from making the final blow and ultimately kill his daughter, the Hyuga clan's heiress.

It was not filled with fatherly concern and to save his daughter being killed, it was to stop other Branch members thinking that they had the free right to think they could harm the Main House members.

Although he had Hanabi in case Hinata should die, he was reluctant to admit but he was just as scared of losing his daughter as he had lost his wife. That little bit of fatherly love was still there, buried under his new-found hatred for her.

"N-Neji-n-nii-san?" Hinata whispered confused, wiping her eyes gingerly, both from sleep and from the inner alarm at the kunai in Neji's hands.

He struggled ferociously in the clan head's grip. Hiashi merely pulled Neji further away, dragging him on the floor painfully.

"It's been 4 days… 4 days…" Neji wiggled even more.

Hiashi let go purposely, unbeknownst to Neji who had sprung up as soon as the clan head had let go.

"…and YOU slept through it all-ARGH!" Neji produced this strangled scream before clutching his forehead. He looked at Hiashi, his own uncle and clan head who had his hands together in a hand sign to activate his cursed seal.

How could this happen? What **had **happened? Hinata looked at the scene with a frantic panic and slight morbid fascination at how the cursed seal rendered one so powerless. And how it could be used for such a young child such as Neji? He looked like he was wilting away, and crumbling on the pressure of the pain too great for his young body and age.

Hiashi let go. And Neji collapsed, sweat and tears from bloodshot eyes dripping heavily down his face.

"W-Why... did my father h-have to DIE!? W-why d-did...he r-replace...you, Hiashi-sama?" he looked so anguished as he croaked from his position down on the floor.

"He chose to give his life up for the Main Branch. And-"

"But why!?" he whined, his eyes demanding angrily.

"I will make it simple. He died because he was Branch."

Neji looked broken, torn by the harsh reality and unfairness that had singled out his father and had turned him into a victim instead of his cold uncle. He truly realising his harsh fate for the future, and hated the Main House members for it, especially Hinata.

He turned sharply towards Hinata and glared at her with his bloodshot white eyes, an eerie sight to see on a Hyuga whose eyes were pale and white. Hinata found it very frightening and intimidating, and a terrible substitute for her other lovely nii-san.

"Hinata, I hate you. I hate you, I HATE you, I HATE YOU!" he spat with venom, "I hope you die, I HOPE YOU DIE FOR YOUR USELESSNESS! I HOPE YOU DIE FOR YOUR MISTAKE, YOU WEAKLING!"

Hiashi started dragging him away.

"I HATE the Main House!" he screeched

Hiashi slapped him.

"I HOPE ALL THE MAIN HOUSE MEMBERS DIE!" he yells with all his might

Hiashi activates his seal again, and howls in pain.

"I HOPE YOU NEVER ACTIVATE YOUR BYAKUGAN! DIEE HINATA! DIE!" He manages to holler out to her despite being in so much pain.

After her father dragged Neji away, Hinata ran to her bedroom in sheer panic and disbelief, not about Neji's outburst and attempt to kill her but the sheer fat that...

She plopped down on her bed, her eyes were wide as her mind processed the event's information… She saw something, her father saw it too, and it made both father's and daughter's eyes widen.

The large pale veins that bulged near his eyes and the defined pupil that gazed at her with accusation… Neji had activated his byakugan…

* * *

><p>"Oh Neji…" his mother sobbed<p>

"What have they done? What have they done?" her body shook with each trembling sob she took.

Her eyes glazed with shock and grief, she had lost her husband and now she had nearly lost her son, she cradled her son close to her, desperately trying to envelope him and shield him from the cruel world of reality.

"Okaa-san, please…calm down…" Neji babbled, he could not even talk properly. And at this, she wiped away her tears, and looked at her son with fury and disbelief.

"Neji! They almost killed you! They killed your father, and I know they will not hesitate to kill you as well! I'm your mother, how can I calm down?!" she ranted furiously, breathing in heavily, her might and anger thundering down on the whole world, especially the Main House.

"But…why?" he whimpered, his eyes full of hurt. He didn't want to believe it, although he had nearly killed Hinata, although he had been so severely punished, he wished from the very bottom of his heart that it was just a bad dream.

But the answer had been simple, and there was no need for words. They already knew the reason. They were Branch members.

And for that, his mother's tears fell; they were tears of grief and bitter realisation for her dead husband, they were tears of frustrated helplessness and anger at the Main House and they were tears of sadness as she saw her son crack.

Neji steeled himself, and his eyes hardened with newfound hatred and coldness.

"Don't worry okaa-san…"Neji whispered, "Everything will be alright now…"

* * *

><p>Hinata was in the confines of her room, and not in the soft bed that was too big for her tiny body (which she had always hated because it made her feel empty inside) but instead on the cold hard floor with a blank look on her face.<p>

She rocked her body forwards and backwards and tried to cradle herself within her short thin arms. She hated herself, she had been responsible for so much sadness and even death, and she truly found herself forced in a helpless corner.

'Oh Neji-nii-san, I thought you would be my nii-san…' she thought sadly

'If only you didn't have to be so sad… if only you didn't have to suffer…'

A tear slid across her cheek, and once it had dropped it signalled all the others to follow along and the outpour of her tears began. She hiccupped and blamed herself for Neji's unhappiness.

She wept for so long, hours it seemed. She wept for her uncle Hizashi, Neji's father and her own father's brother, and she wept for Neji.

She wished she could have died instead of her uncle after all Neji's wish could never be fulfilled. She had to live on for Hanabi…

She could have granted him at least one more wish, one more satisfaction but he had been deprived even of that because of her unluckiness and uselessness.

She wailed even louder, hiccupping through the way.

Neji's wish can never be fulfilled… for I have already activated my Byakugan…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the late update, I wasn't motivated at times and was felt too much like a pig to continue so sorry. **

**I know I've been very irritating to you. Sowry.**

**Please comment/review as I would love to know how you guys think this story is progressing on, and remember an author always feels more motivated when receiving nice reviews. Feel free to add some constructive criticisms but notice, I'm very sensitive to flames. Dun-dun-dun… Every author's worst nightmare, apart from having no reviews.**

**The cycle of life**

**Reviews Happy Author Quicker updates (+Loads of love) Reviews Happy Author… etc! :D**

***I think I've done pretty well if I've managed to write 4915 words- well, at least that's what my word counter in my document says.***

**~Tired Symphony~**


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